Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has revealed that daily cleaning of public transport, with all types of metro, trams, buses, maritime transport and taxis, has been reinforced by additional measures that include sterilization with high-efficiency materials, working to combat types of germs, bacteria and viruses, and its effect lasts for up to five days Among the precautionary measures taken by the authority to ensure the safety of public transport users, in light of the spread of the new Corona virus in all countries of the world.
The director of the public buses department at the Public Transportation Corporation at the authority, Mohamed Abdullah Al Ali, told «Emirates Today» that the buses go to work from early morning hours, and do not start returning until nine o'clock until two o'clock in the morning, explaining that once the bus returns to the shelters They are subject, on a daily and routine basis, to thorough cleaning operations, starting from nine in the evening until six in the morning.
Responding to a question about how to ensure the safety of buses from viruses during daily working hours, Al Ali said that the sterilization materials used to sterilize the various means of transport in Dubai are made with materials that have a surface effect of more than five days, enabling them to nullify the work of any virus It could reach it, pointing to the selection of one of the most important types of sterile and disinfectant materials on the market, and to testing it after using it to sterilize transportation means to ensure its effectiveness.
He continued that the bus is sprayed with sterile materials in the evening, and its doors are closed until morning hours, pointing out that these materials are used every five days because their effect can continue to seven days, but the teams specialized in cleaning and sterilization operations use them daily to ensure the safety of buses and their passengers.
He explained that the materials used in sterilization cover all types of surfaces, such as seats and handles, and therefore if any kind of virus touches them, they eliminate it or reduce its effectiveness to the maximum extent, indicating that there are clear directives that sterilization should be used daily, in order to ensure the safety of bus users and means of transportation the public.
Al-Ali mentioned another mechanism that is currently being implemented to ensure more safety, as he indicated that there are field inspectors around the clock monitoring the situation inside buses, as well as monitors in the control center of the Public Transport Corporation, who in turn monitor the internal situation on the bus in terms of the presence of passengers They have certain symptoms, as the bus stops service immediately and is replaced by another bus.
He stressed that there is a specialized team that undertakes daily cleaning and sterilization of 1500 buses, in five stations, according to international standards followed at all times, and sterilization includes all sites and means of transportation that witness extensive use of members of the public, pointing out that this procedure is a continuous routine, and is not linked to the presence of some Diseases.
He pointed out that the number of workers in the process of intensive cleaning and sterilization, about 210 workers, covering various stages, including washing and external cleaning, and drying, and internal cleaning and sterilization, pointing out that the duration of sterilization ranged between five and seven minutes, as it depends on the size of the bus.
Taxi vehicles
The director of the public buses department at the Public Transport Agency, Mohammed Abdullah Al Ali, said that the authority obligated franchise companies for public taxis in Dubai to take the same precautions as the institution uses with its vehicles, and to use the same disinfectant and sterilized materials to ensure the sterilization of vehicles of any type of viruses and pollutants , And to ensure their safety on a daily basis by applying extensive sterilization programs.
• 1500 buses are sterilized daily according to the international standards followed.
• Sterilization materials cover the bus surfaces and their effect lasts for more than five days.